Hello
family and Friends!! (Email 10-21-13)
Trio of Trouble ;)
Well what a crazy week.
Just when you think that you are getting the hangs of things, God likes to switch
things up :). It is really so cool though to see His hand in all things, and
see His plan for your life, for the mission, for all of His children unfolding.
So, Thursday evening, we got a call from President Jenkins telling us that we
were being changed into a trio! We now have another super awesome companion,
Sister Demille! Yay! She has been my roommate since I've been here, so we
already were super good friends, and it is just super awesome. Not only have
that, but we now have 2 areas! And man, are we busy. A whole lot of changes - this
has been one of the craziest weeks ever, but I love it.
We have come home every
single day absolutely exhausted. It's the best. It's definitely another
adventure. We have been trying to really plan and get organized and schedule
our time well. We still just work with the Liahona 3rd branch, but we have the
east and west sides of it. The elders have the big chunk in the middle. It's
weird teaching with 3 of us, but we have been trying to make good lesson plans
and just organize our time well. We have a lot of fun together, so I am loving
it. It's so nice to have challenges like this because it shows that God trusts
us and that He wants us to learn and to grow. We stacked up some bunk beds,
moved some desks upstairs, and we were good to go! Trio of Trouble :)
Lupe is getting baptized!
So we have had a bunch
of success this week! It's been awesome. Lupe is for sure getting baptized next
Saturday! She had her baptismal interview and we scheduled the stake center. We
are so excited for her! She has been waiting for this for a long time. I hope
that she gets all the support, love, time, and attention she needs from her
family and the church to help her stay strong in her decisions and in her
attempts to change. The Young Women’s Organization has been such a great help
with her. Her leaders just love her to death and do all that they can for her.
On Wednesday, we will be teaching the Law of Chastity to the Mia Maids and Laurels
for the Young Women’s lesson and for a lesson with Lupe. We think it will be
really good for them to hear it from someone their own age.
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| Me, Lupe, Hna. Maughan & Hna. Demille at the temple. |
We could feel the Lord’s hand in the way we were
lead to a new investigator.
We also found such an
awesome investigator this week! His name is Arturo. It was a cool way that we
found him. The Spirit just whispered things to both Hna. Maughan and me to get
us on the right path to find him. He kind of lives with his family but is
homeless... kind of. I don't really know. I just know that his life is really
hard right now. He is far from his family, and just really hurting. But he has
such a love for our Heavenly Father and such a strong desire to get closer to
him. We taught him about the Restoration to the earth of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, and he just cried. When we told him about the First Vision, when God
the Father and His son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, he told us that
he had goose bumps, and that he didn't have words to describe how he felt. He
told us that he knew our message was divine, and that it was what God wanted
him to learn. The Spirit was so strong during that lesson. It was beautiful. We
taught it outside at night, standing on the street. Just really trying to teach
him, love him, and help him to feel the love and hope that God has for him. We
invited him to be baptized on November 9th, and he was like of course! We are
hoping for no complications with that. It is hard to find him though, because
he works absolutely as much as he can and doesn't have a phone. But God is
really watching over him and taking care of him.
Teaching more members of Manuel’s Extended Family
It's so fun to have a
new area because we get new investigators too! It's the best. We are teaching John's
(Manuel’s dad) sister-in-law and niece, Malia and Alexa. At first, Malia was
not interested at all, but she has been talking to Karen, and now her heart is
being softened. She is starting to understand the need to get closer to God and
to follow Him and worship Him daily. She had a lot of questions and doubts, but
learning about the Restoration really helped her.
More brand new investigators, and they came to
church!
We also are teaching
this great couple, Juan and Anna. Sister Demille found the on the side of the
street a few days before all the changes. We have done a lot of how to begin
teaching and shared the book of Mormon with them, but haven't taught a full
lesson yet. However, they already came to a baptismal service and to church!
They are super interested in learning more and have some good friends that are
LDS. We think they might have gotten a little overwhelmed by all the activities
going on within the church, so we are going to try go slowly with them.
We have lots of work and
are just trying to do all we can! We have a lot of potential investigators, a
lot of investigators that are progressing, and a lot of less active members to
work with. So our schedules are FULL. It's the best though.
God does all He can to help us find happiness
and we can trust Him.
The mission is great! I
wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I have already learned and changed
so much from it. I know I have even more to learn and grow from it too.
Sometimes it is hard, but life is always hard. Hard things are how we grow. I
just really want to get better at understanding and discerning the promptings
from the Holy Ghost. I know that Heavenly Father is giving me the guidance and
direction that I ask for, but a lot of times I just have a hard time
recognizing it. But I know that He always hears my prayers. I know that He
loves me just as much as He loves all of the people that I am working with - my
companions, my investigators, the branch members. Every soul is great in His
eyes. I know that He hears my prayers and that He helps me through my
struggles. I know that He does all that He can to help us to find happiness. I
know that I can trust Him no matter what, even when it's hard. With faith and
humility, He will direct our paths for good. Don't ever lose sight of how much
He loves you. Don't let anything compromise your relationship with Him. He will
never lose that love for us, but sometimes we just don't think, and do things
that take ourselves father away from him. But no matter what, He is our Father
and we are His children. I love Him so much!
Thanks for all your
support, prayers, and love! I feel so spoiled by all of you! I seriously have
the best family and friends a missionary could ever ask for!
 |
| People always take qunicenera pictures out by the temple and this random guy told us to get a picture with this cute girl at her quincinera! |
I love you all so much!
Always stay strong and stay smiling! Know that I think and pray for you often
:)
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Haynes
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